Analysis of Theme of Langston HughesâPoems Through Diction.
ABSTRACT
Dalam skripsi ini, saya menganalisis tema melalui diksi dari ketiga puisi
Langston Hughes yang berjudul As I Grew Older, The Negro Mother, dan Mother
to Son, yang bercerita tentang perjuangan orang kulit hitam di Amerika
menghadapi masalah diskriminasi ras. Puisi pertama, As I Grew Older,
menceritakan usaha seorang kulit hitam dengan kekuatannya mendapatkan
kembali impiannya. Tema dari puisi pertama adalah “orang kulit hitam harus
memakai kekuatan mereka sendiri untuk mengatasi kesulitan di hidup mereka
untuk mendapat kehidupan yang lebih baik.” Puisi kedua, The Negro Mother,
menceritakan seorang ibu kulit hitam yang walau mengalami perbudakan, tidak
pernah kehilangan harapan akan kebebasan. Nasihatnya kepada generasi
selanjutnya menjadi tema puisi ini: “sejarah penderitaan yang panjang dari orang
kulit hitam harus menjadi sebuah dorongan untuk berjuang untuk kebebasan dan
memiliki sikap positif dalam hidup mereka.” Puisi ketiga berjudul Mother to Son,
menceritakan kehidupan seorang ibu kulit hitam yang penuh dengan kesusahan
dan perjuangan. Nasihat sang ibu kepada anaknya menjadi tema dalam puisi ini
bahwa “semangat juang orang tua dapat mendorong orang muda kulit hitam untuk
berjuang dan jangan mudah menyerah walaupun menghadapi kesulitan hidup.”
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………...
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….
ii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………...
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study…………………………………………………..
1
Statement of the Problem………………………………………………….
2
Purpose of the Study.........………………………………………………...
2
Method of Research.………………………………………………………
3
Organization of the Thesis..……………………………………………….
3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME OF LANGSTON
HUGHES’ POEMS THROUGH DICTION………………………...
4
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION………………………………………
22
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………
27
APPENDICES
Langston Hughes’ poems………………………………………………….
29
Biography of the Author…………………………………………………..
31
ii
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Harlem Renaissance is a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement in
America that kindled a new black cultural identity (“Harlem Renaissance”). It
begins in 1920s and 1930s. Black people experienced discrimination by the white
people. Discrimination is “the practice of treating somebody or particular group
in society less fairly than others (because of somebody’s age, race or sex)”
(“Discrimination,” def. 1). One kind of discrimination is racism. Racism is “the
hatred of one person by another – or the belief that another person is less than
human – because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor
that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person” (“Racism”). Racism is
done by the majority towards the minority. One of the writers in Harlem
Renaissance, who also experienced discrimination is Langston Hughes.
Langston Hughes is one of the American black writers who have written
some works about racism. Hughes wrote about his reflections on political
injustices, racial oppression, poverty, the black experience, family, and work.
1
Maranatha Christian University
He is most famous for literature works which are among others a poetry collection
entitled The Weary Blues (1925), a novel entitled Not Without Laughter (1930),
and a short story collection entitled Laughing to Keep From Crying (1952).
I have chosen Langston Hughes’ poems “As I Grew Older,” “The Negro
Mother,” and “Mother to Son” to be analyzed in this thesis. The literary element
I will discuss is theme through diction. “Diction can be defined as style of
speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a writer”
(“Diction”). In poetic diction, figure of speech is included as a device of
comparison. Figure of speech is “a form of expression (as a simile or metaphor)
used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one
thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or
listener” (“Figures of Speech”). “Theme is the central, underlying, and
controlling idea or insight of a work of literature” (“The Literary Superpower
Tool of Theme”).
Statement of the Problem
The problems I am going to discuss are stated as follows:
1. What is the theme of three poems by Langston Hughes?
2. How does the diction help to reveal the theme of these three poems?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the problems above, the purposes of the study are:
1. To show the theme of three poems by Langston Hughes.
2. To show how the diction helps to reveal the theme of these three poems.
Method of Research
2
Maranatha Christian University
I conduct library research for my thesis. First, I read the three poems. After
that, I analyze these poems through the diction. And then I search for a number of
suitable references from books and Internet websites. At the end, I draw a
conclusion from my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by the Acknowledgments,
the Abstract and the Table of Contents. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
Chapter Two is the theme analysis of three of Langston Hughes’s poems through
diction. Chapter Three is the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the Bibliography
and the Appendices, which contain Langston Hughes’s poems and his biography.
3
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After I have finished analyzing the three poems by Langston Hughes, I
conclude that Hughes delivers his poems with words that are simple and easy to
be understood. The poems bring up the theme about encouragement and
empowerment against social discrimination, as we can see from the words that are
used by Hughes.
The first poem “As I Grew Older” is about a person who tells about his
life and what he has been through. He says that he had a dream but then, there is
an obstacle that comes to his life. Hughes uses the word “dream” to refer to
something that the persona wishes to have or to be. He compares his dream with
the “sun”, the word which he uses to symbolize his hope. The word “bright” in
“bright like a sun,” also indicates that his dream is something positive that enables
him to have a good life. Hughes later writes that there are obstacles which block
him from his dream. There are four dictions that are used by Hughes to represent
22
Maranatha Christian University
these obstacles; “wall,” “darkness,” “night,” and “shadow.” These four words
indicate something negative that holds him back from his dream leads him to have
uncertainty in his life. Hughes uses the sentence “I am black” is to emphasize the
racial discrimination that the persona receives, and makes him not free to do
anything.
Hughes also shows that black people have power to change this condition.
They cannot blame the situation; on the other hand, they should fight for their life.
He uses the words “my hands” and “my dark hands” to emphasize the belief in
their selves. Then he describes the persona has power to change their condition,
which is revealed through the diction: “shatter”, “smash,” and “break.”
From the diction that is used by Hughes, I can see that this poem is about a
black person who experiences racial discrimination. The theme is “black people
should use their own strength to overcome the obstacles in life in order to get
a better life.”
“The Negro Mother” is the second poem that I have analyzed. It is about a
black mother who tells about her hard life and experiences. Through her story, she
encourages the next generations to fight against slavery or racial discrimination
against the black people.
Hughes begins the poem by telling the persona’s condition. The persona is
a free black woman who was kidnapped from her native land and sold to become
a slave in another land. He emphasizes all the unfair treatments experienced by
the woman through the phrases such as “beaten and mistreated,” “children sold
away,” “no safety, no love, no respect.” Hughes uses the diction to describe the
condition of black people’s life when they became slave.
23
Maranatha Christian University
Despite her condition, the persona strongly believes she and the next
generations of her race are free people as in the words “through my children,
young and free” and “I was the seed of coming Free.” This belief encourages her
to fight and endure the unfair treatment, as can be seen from the diction such as
“trudging,” “keep on,” and “no stopping for me.” She encourages her own self
and the next generations not to give up as shown by the phrases “but march ever
forward,” and “breaking down bars.” She makes herself an example in her
fighting, as shown through the diction: “remember my years,” “heavy with
sorrow–,” “and make of those years a torch for tomorrow.”
Hughes shows to the readers that despite all her sufferings, she never
complains. She does all her works and she still can sing. Moreover, she still fights
for what she believes and encourages others. Hughes wants to raise the black
people’s awareness that if they believe in their dreams, they will be able to fight
the obstacles. The theme I can conclude from the second poem is “black people’s
long history of suffering should be an encouragement to fight for freedom
and have optimistic attitudes in their life.”
The last poem that I have analyzed is “Mother to Son.” The poem is about
a black mother who encourages her son not to give up easily when facing
obstacles in his life. This poem has a similar meaning to the second poem.
Hughes uses the word “stair” to symbolize the rough path of the persona’s
life. The phrase “no crystal stair” is to show the persona’s life is not as smooth as
other’s because there are “splinters,” “boards torn up,” and “places with no carpet
on the floor.” Hughes uses those words to describe the persona’s life and
24
Maranatha Christian University
emphasize the obstacles. The diction “bare” is also used to show that the persona
has nothing in her life in facing the obstacles.
Yet, he shows that despite the hard life, the persona still fights to keep on
living, which is represented by the diction “been a-climbin’ on,” “reachin’
landin’s,” and “turnin’ corners.” The phrase “but all the time” emphasizes how
persistent she is in fighting the obstacles in her life, in order to keep on living her
life.
The persona’s fighting is not for nothing; on the contrary, there is
something that she knows worth fighting for. Hughes does not mention what it is
that makes the persona fight, but we can conclude from the diction that she fights
to keep on living her life. Later, the persona encourages her son to fight like her
and not to give up: “I’se still goin’,” and I’se still climbin’.”
Hughes describes the spirit of a mother in facing her hard life. He
emphasizes how the persona encourages her son and others to keep fighting to
overcome the obstacles in life. The theme that I get from the diction used by
Hughes is “parents’ spirit can encourage young black people to fight and not
easily give up in spite of their hardship of life.”
From the three poems, I can see the similarity of the poems from the
diction used by Hughes. Besides, Hughes uses similar pattern in writing his
poems. He tells the condition and the obstacles that each persona faces; then, he
describes that in every poem, there is hope or dream or something that the persona
wants to achieve; and the last, Hughes describes how the persona keeps fighting
despite all the difficulties. The backgrounds of the poems are racial discrimination
and slavery because the persona in every poem is a black person. The obstacles or
25
Maranatha Christian University
the hard life the persona faces are followed by the encouragement, hope, and
fighting spirit. Hughes shows that it is our own self that can help us fight to
overcome the obstacles.
I also conclude that although Hughes describes the racial discrimination,
he does not use his poems to attack white people or to spread animosity to them.
He wants to encourage and remind his fellow black people to do something in
order to make changes in their life, and that they have the power to change their
destiny.
26
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text:
“Poems of Langston Hughes”. PoemHunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
References:
“Banner.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Bare.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Break.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Climb.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Crystal.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Dark.” Def. 8. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“The Deep South.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005.
Print.
“Diction.” Definition and Examples of Literary Terms, Literary Devices. N.p.
2014. Web.18 Oct. 2014.
“Discrimination.” Def 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005.
Print.
“Dream.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Exclamation.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005.
Print.
27
“Facts About the Sun.” Telescope.org. University of Bradford, 2015. Web. 5 May
2016.
“Figures of Speech.” Meriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster
Online, 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
“Harlem Renaissance.” History. A&E Television Networks, LLC, 2014. Web. 31
Aug. 2014.
“Langston Hughes.” PoemHunter.com. N.p., n. d. Web. 5 May 2016.
“The Literary Superpower Tool of Theme,” Read Write Think, n.d. Web. 18 Oct.
2014.
“Punctuation Marks: The Colon.” Writing Forward, N.p., 2016. Web. 5 May
2016.
“Racism”. Anti-Defamation League. The Anti-Defamation League, 1913. Web. 31
Aug. 2014.
“Splinter.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Slowly.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Track.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Torch.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Trudge.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Valley.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Wall.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Wall”. Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
28
Dalam skripsi ini, saya menganalisis tema melalui diksi dari ketiga puisi
Langston Hughes yang berjudul As I Grew Older, The Negro Mother, dan Mother
to Son, yang bercerita tentang perjuangan orang kulit hitam di Amerika
menghadapi masalah diskriminasi ras. Puisi pertama, As I Grew Older,
menceritakan usaha seorang kulit hitam dengan kekuatannya mendapatkan
kembali impiannya. Tema dari puisi pertama adalah “orang kulit hitam harus
memakai kekuatan mereka sendiri untuk mengatasi kesulitan di hidup mereka
untuk mendapat kehidupan yang lebih baik.” Puisi kedua, The Negro Mother,
menceritakan seorang ibu kulit hitam yang walau mengalami perbudakan, tidak
pernah kehilangan harapan akan kebebasan. Nasihatnya kepada generasi
selanjutnya menjadi tema puisi ini: “sejarah penderitaan yang panjang dari orang
kulit hitam harus menjadi sebuah dorongan untuk berjuang untuk kebebasan dan
memiliki sikap positif dalam hidup mereka.” Puisi ketiga berjudul Mother to Son,
menceritakan kehidupan seorang ibu kulit hitam yang penuh dengan kesusahan
dan perjuangan. Nasihat sang ibu kepada anaknya menjadi tema dalam puisi ini
bahwa “semangat juang orang tua dapat mendorong orang muda kulit hitam untuk
berjuang dan jangan mudah menyerah walaupun menghadapi kesulitan hidup.”
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………...
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….
ii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………...
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study…………………………………………………..
1
Statement of the Problem………………………………………………….
2
Purpose of the Study.........………………………………………………...
2
Method of Research.………………………………………………………
3
Organization of the Thesis..……………………………………………….
3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME OF LANGSTON
HUGHES’ POEMS THROUGH DICTION………………………...
4
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION………………………………………
22
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………
27
APPENDICES
Langston Hughes’ poems………………………………………………….
29
Biography of the Author…………………………………………………..
31
ii
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Harlem Renaissance is a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement in
America that kindled a new black cultural identity (“Harlem Renaissance”). It
begins in 1920s and 1930s. Black people experienced discrimination by the white
people. Discrimination is “the practice of treating somebody or particular group
in society less fairly than others (because of somebody’s age, race or sex)”
(“Discrimination,” def. 1). One kind of discrimination is racism. Racism is “the
hatred of one person by another – or the belief that another person is less than
human – because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor
that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person” (“Racism”). Racism is
done by the majority towards the minority. One of the writers in Harlem
Renaissance, who also experienced discrimination is Langston Hughes.
Langston Hughes is one of the American black writers who have written
some works about racism. Hughes wrote about his reflections on political
injustices, racial oppression, poverty, the black experience, family, and work.
1
Maranatha Christian University
He is most famous for literature works which are among others a poetry collection
entitled The Weary Blues (1925), a novel entitled Not Without Laughter (1930),
and a short story collection entitled Laughing to Keep From Crying (1952).
I have chosen Langston Hughes’ poems “As I Grew Older,” “The Negro
Mother,” and “Mother to Son” to be analyzed in this thesis. The literary element
I will discuss is theme through diction. “Diction can be defined as style of
speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a writer”
(“Diction”). In poetic diction, figure of speech is included as a device of
comparison. Figure of speech is “a form of expression (as a simile or metaphor)
used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one
thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or
listener” (“Figures of Speech”). “Theme is the central, underlying, and
controlling idea or insight of a work of literature” (“The Literary Superpower
Tool of Theme”).
Statement of the Problem
The problems I am going to discuss are stated as follows:
1. What is the theme of three poems by Langston Hughes?
2. How does the diction help to reveal the theme of these three poems?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the problems above, the purposes of the study are:
1. To show the theme of three poems by Langston Hughes.
2. To show how the diction helps to reveal the theme of these three poems.
Method of Research
2
Maranatha Christian University
I conduct library research for my thesis. First, I read the three poems. After
that, I analyze these poems through the diction. And then I search for a number of
suitable references from books and Internet websites. At the end, I draw a
conclusion from my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by the Acknowledgments,
the Abstract and the Table of Contents. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
Chapter Two is the theme analysis of three of Langston Hughes’s poems through
diction. Chapter Three is the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the Bibliography
and the Appendices, which contain Langston Hughes’s poems and his biography.
3
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After I have finished analyzing the three poems by Langston Hughes, I
conclude that Hughes delivers his poems with words that are simple and easy to
be understood. The poems bring up the theme about encouragement and
empowerment against social discrimination, as we can see from the words that are
used by Hughes.
The first poem “As I Grew Older” is about a person who tells about his
life and what he has been through. He says that he had a dream but then, there is
an obstacle that comes to his life. Hughes uses the word “dream” to refer to
something that the persona wishes to have or to be. He compares his dream with
the “sun”, the word which he uses to symbolize his hope. The word “bright” in
“bright like a sun,” also indicates that his dream is something positive that enables
him to have a good life. Hughes later writes that there are obstacles which block
him from his dream. There are four dictions that are used by Hughes to represent
22
Maranatha Christian University
these obstacles; “wall,” “darkness,” “night,” and “shadow.” These four words
indicate something negative that holds him back from his dream leads him to have
uncertainty in his life. Hughes uses the sentence “I am black” is to emphasize the
racial discrimination that the persona receives, and makes him not free to do
anything.
Hughes also shows that black people have power to change this condition.
They cannot blame the situation; on the other hand, they should fight for their life.
He uses the words “my hands” and “my dark hands” to emphasize the belief in
their selves. Then he describes the persona has power to change their condition,
which is revealed through the diction: “shatter”, “smash,” and “break.”
From the diction that is used by Hughes, I can see that this poem is about a
black person who experiences racial discrimination. The theme is “black people
should use their own strength to overcome the obstacles in life in order to get
a better life.”
“The Negro Mother” is the second poem that I have analyzed. It is about a
black mother who tells about her hard life and experiences. Through her story, she
encourages the next generations to fight against slavery or racial discrimination
against the black people.
Hughes begins the poem by telling the persona’s condition. The persona is
a free black woman who was kidnapped from her native land and sold to become
a slave in another land. He emphasizes all the unfair treatments experienced by
the woman through the phrases such as “beaten and mistreated,” “children sold
away,” “no safety, no love, no respect.” Hughes uses the diction to describe the
condition of black people’s life when they became slave.
23
Maranatha Christian University
Despite her condition, the persona strongly believes she and the next
generations of her race are free people as in the words “through my children,
young and free” and “I was the seed of coming Free.” This belief encourages her
to fight and endure the unfair treatment, as can be seen from the diction such as
“trudging,” “keep on,” and “no stopping for me.” She encourages her own self
and the next generations not to give up as shown by the phrases “but march ever
forward,” and “breaking down bars.” She makes herself an example in her
fighting, as shown through the diction: “remember my years,” “heavy with
sorrow–,” “and make of those years a torch for tomorrow.”
Hughes shows to the readers that despite all her sufferings, she never
complains. She does all her works and she still can sing. Moreover, she still fights
for what she believes and encourages others. Hughes wants to raise the black
people’s awareness that if they believe in their dreams, they will be able to fight
the obstacles. The theme I can conclude from the second poem is “black people’s
long history of suffering should be an encouragement to fight for freedom
and have optimistic attitudes in their life.”
The last poem that I have analyzed is “Mother to Son.” The poem is about
a black mother who encourages her son not to give up easily when facing
obstacles in his life. This poem has a similar meaning to the second poem.
Hughes uses the word “stair” to symbolize the rough path of the persona’s
life. The phrase “no crystal stair” is to show the persona’s life is not as smooth as
other’s because there are “splinters,” “boards torn up,” and “places with no carpet
on the floor.” Hughes uses those words to describe the persona’s life and
24
Maranatha Christian University
emphasize the obstacles. The diction “bare” is also used to show that the persona
has nothing in her life in facing the obstacles.
Yet, he shows that despite the hard life, the persona still fights to keep on
living, which is represented by the diction “been a-climbin’ on,” “reachin’
landin’s,” and “turnin’ corners.” The phrase “but all the time” emphasizes how
persistent she is in fighting the obstacles in her life, in order to keep on living her
life.
The persona’s fighting is not for nothing; on the contrary, there is
something that she knows worth fighting for. Hughes does not mention what it is
that makes the persona fight, but we can conclude from the diction that she fights
to keep on living her life. Later, the persona encourages her son to fight like her
and not to give up: “I’se still goin’,” and I’se still climbin’.”
Hughes describes the spirit of a mother in facing her hard life. He
emphasizes how the persona encourages her son and others to keep fighting to
overcome the obstacles in life. The theme that I get from the diction used by
Hughes is “parents’ spirit can encourage young black people to fight and not
easily give up in spite of their hardship of life.”
From the three poems, I can see the similarity of the poems from the
diction used by Hughes. Besides, Hughes uses similar pattern in writing his
poems. He tells the condition and the obstacles that each persona faces; then, he
describes that in every poem, there is hope or dream or something that the persona
wants to achieve; and the last, Hughes describes how the persona keeps fighting
despite all the difficulties. The backgrounds of the poems are racial discrimination
and slavery because the persona in every poem is a black person. The obstacles or
25
Maranatha Christian University
the hard life the persona faces are followed by the encouragement, hope, and
fighting spirit. Hughes shows that it is our own self that can help us fight to
overcome the obstacles.
I also conclude that although Hughes describes the racial discrimination,
he does not use his poems to attack white people or to spread animosity to them.
He wants to encourage and remind his fellow black people to do something in
order to make changes in their life, and that they have the power to change their
destiny.
26
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text:
“Poems of Langston Hughes”. PoemHunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
References:
“Banner.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Bare.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Break.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Climb.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Crystal.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Dark.” Def. 8. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“The Deep South.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005.
Print.
“Diction.” Definition and Examples of Literary Terms, Literary Devices. N.p.
2014. Web.18 Oct. 2014.
“Discrimination.” Def 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005.
Print.
“Dream.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Exclamation.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005.
Print.
27
“Facts About the Sun.” Telescope.org. University of Bradford, 2015. Web. 5 May
2016.
“Figures of Speech.” Meriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster
Online, 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
“Harlem Renaissance.” History. A&E Television Networks, LLC, 2014. Web. 31
Aug. 2014.
“Langston Hughes.” PoemHunter.com. N.p., n. d. Web. 5 May 2016.
“The Literary Superpower Tool of Theme,” Read Write Think, n.d. Web. 18 Oct.
2014.
“Punctuation Marks: The Colon.” Writing Forward, N.p., 2016. Web. 5 May
2016.
“Racism”. Anti-Defamation League. The Anti-Defamation League, 1913. Web. 31
Aug. 2014.
“Splinter.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Slowly.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Track.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Torch.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Trudge.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Valley.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Wall.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
“Wall”. Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
28